Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_rubus_argutus
Prickly Florida Blackberry
Rubus argutus
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About Prickly Florida Blackberry
An erect to arching blackberry shrub with stout cane prickles. Vegetative shoots generally have five sharply toothed leaflets and flowering shoots three. White flowers develop into black aggregate fruits whose receptacle remains attached to the drupelets. Established wild occurrence warrants observations of occupied cover, reproductive plants and new recruits. These measurements can test persistence and spread. The reviewed accounts do not quantify an island-wide effect on Kauaʻi native vegetation.
Kauaʻi evidence
Generated media is not occurrence evidence. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Rubus argutus
- Common names
- prickly Florida blackberry
- Hawaiian names
- ʻōhelo ʻeleʻele
- Other names
- Rubus argutus · prickly Florida blackberry · ʻōhelo ʻeleʻele
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-07
- Evidence limits
- Island-level public occurrence only. Preserve blackberry receptacle attachment rather than depict a hollow raspberry. Do not confuse with the much larger fruit and rose-colored flowers of Rubus hawaiensis.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Not yet assessed
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Shrub or subshrub; Erect or becoming arching shrubs; stems stiff and usually erect in open areas, ± decumbent in shaded sites, primocanes 10-30 dm long, angled, covered with stout, straight or hooked prickles up to 6(-8) mm long, their bases usually longitudinally elongated, also sparsely pilose, lateral branches of floricanes moderately to densely pilose, prickles usually smaller.
Threats and conservation
- Monitoring
- Occupied area and vegetation cover; Mature plants and new recruits; Reproductive plants and fruiting frequency. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
- Data gaps
- Current island extent and population trend · Measured local ecological effects
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- An erect to arching blackberry shrub with stout cane prickles. Vegetative shoots generally have five sharply toothed leaflets and flowering shoots three. White flowers develop into black aggregate fruits whose receptacle remains attached to the drupelets. Established wild occurrence warrants observations of occupied cover, reproductive plants and new recruits. These measurements can test persistence and spread. The reviewed accounts do not quantify an island-wide effect on Kauaʻi native vegetation.